Category: Family

My wife, Flor, and I attended my brother Edwin’s wedding with Val. The event brought together two beautiful families on that great and wonderful day. A celebration indeed!

The photoshoots are really fun. Kudos to many great ideas put in. I am so excited to see how they would come out!

Weddings bring back memories of your own wedding: the feeling, the exhaustion, the fun and the unforgetable moments. I like attending weddings because of that. They make you remember, re-cherish and re-spark your own vows.

Congratulations Edwin and Val! Thank you for an awesome day to remember!! Best wishes!!!

Our house was hit by one of the many flashfloods caused by tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) last September 26, 2009 PST. My family (Flor, Kyle, Bryan, baby JP) and our yaya are safe in our neighbor’s house who was so kind to open her house’s upper floors for her troubled neighbors (thank you , Mercy).

The flood quickly developed in SouthFairway Homes Landayan San Pedro, Laguna when Ondoy poured a month’s worth of rain in just 6 hours. My wife informed me by phone of a shallow flooding in our area at around 8pm E/DST. A couple of hours later, she called me to report between catches of breaths what was happening and what they were doing. The flood was getting deeper… fast!

We only have one floor in our house so they have to raise the furnitures and appliances on to any available tables and chairs that could support them. The men in our neighborhood, who rounded the streets to check on those who may be in need, were just in time to arrive at our house. They worked together to assist in lifting the refrigerator, which Flor and yaya couldn’t possibly do by themselves. The fact that our neighbors were checking at our house at the right moment when my wife needed help most is a miracle worth mentioning. The initiative of these kind men is highly appreciated — my sincerest gratitude for all your help.

Midnight E/DST, I couldn’t contact my family anymore because the landline phone and my wife’s cellphone went dead. All I could do was to wait for Flor to call me. It was frustrating. I was so worried. I waited for an hour or so before Flor was able to call. That was when I learned that they already moved to our neighbor’s 2nd floor. The water was already above the knee in our house. At that time, the information I knew from the news was that the heavy rain might continue to fall heavily for another 6 – 8 hours. I had to request for her to save as much as we could possible (important documents, laptop/computer peripherals, clothes, TV, etc.) in case the flood continued to rise. After we talked, I knew that she immediately went on her way back to our already knee deep flooded house. I wished I was there instead to do it. It was heartbreaking to be so far away.

I waited to hear from Flor for a gruelling 3 hours or so. I was doubly worried. I talked to friends online for comfort. I checked for news updates every minute. It was still raining hard. Manila, the whole metro and the surrounding provinces were devastated! I even reached a point when I asked some of my friends online to try and contact my family for me. I asked them to contact my mother-in-law to get news — why didn’t I get my neighbor’s number?!!! After a few tries in the midst of more scary news about Ondoy’s wrath, I was pleased to know my family was OK (thank you, Jolai).

I waited until past 5am E/DST or so to hear my wife’s voice. That was all I needed before I could go to sleep…

My wife is very sad about our house getting flooded, but she kept her presence of mind. She is brave and strong and reliable. The flood in our area stopped at waist deep and is still so up to this writing. It is not raining anymore but we’ll have to wait until the flood clears to start picking up for recovery.

Please pray for us and for all affected by Ondoy.

Update (as of 9/27/2009 PST morning):

My family is now safe with my mother-in-law.

Update (as of 9/27/2009 PST evening):

As Ondoy leaves the country, the southwest monsoon is still being enhanced causing rains to keep pouring in Southern Luzon. The flood water in our area continued to rise from waist-deep to chest-deep. There are still people in our subdivision where there’s no food and drinking water. Please call to rescue the people there or to help deliver relief goods.

Appreciate your help for my family to recover. I am accepting donations to my PayPal account. Thank you!

You are so 8 years old. I’m very proud of you! Keep up the good work in school. Show your love to Mommy by being obedient. Show your love to your brothers by taking care of them. I love you. Happy 8th birthday.

There were really no plans today except perhaps to get the kids an "If you think I’m cute, wait ’til you see my Daddy!" t-shirts. Well, we didn’t find the t-shirts but we were able to avail of freebies at the mall which included a free solo caricature, a free group caricature and 5 free family pictures. We looked funny in the caricatures and the family picture prints were beautiful. They’re treasures. Truly, the best things in life are free! 🙂

Last July 20, 2008 at around 6pm or so in Muntinlupa Medical Center (Metro Manila, Philippines), Flor gave birth to a healthy baby boy, John Paul — or simply, J.P. He is so cute (aren’t all babies?). It’s been five (5) since the last time so it’s really like learning everything all over again. Sigh… Well, it’s true I guess: for every new baby is a new parent.

This year, we decided not to send our kids to school. Yes, you read that right. We are not sending our kids to school. And let me say that again: we are not sending our kids to school!

My wife proposed this idea and she believes it would be best for the kids. She was able to convince me and I agreed to giving it a try. So that’s what we did.

I am so vulnerable…

Starting this year, the kids will not be sent to school.

Well, literally, they don’t have to be sent. That’s because they only need to stay at home in order to attend the best school in the world: their home! The best part? They will be taught by the best teacher in the world: their mom!

I’m back in Manila since Monday here this week. It’s good to be home. I missed my family and they missed me, too. The kids have made a lot of plans to do with me like what movies to watch and what books to read. It’s great! I brought home the RoboPanda this week (yes, I bought one) and they love it. It’s one big amazing interactive toy. And quite funny, too (it snores when it sleeps). What can be better than owning a panda? Why, owning a RoboPanda, of course! 😉